Q-Pon Cooking: September 2015: Sweet Corn -- Chicken Taco Soup

To wrap up September's Q-Pon Cooking with the popular and delicious THRIVE Sweet Corn, I made some Chicken Taco Soup!  Fall is really starting to be in the air around here and the leaves are turning the beautiful reds, oranges, and browns.  So why not make some soup!?!  I actually developed this recipe on my own, based on a crock pot recipe I used to always make.  The problem with that crock pot recipe is that it used almost all canned ingredients, and my husband always told me that it was too salty.  So after he ate this one and I asked him his opinion, he said it was a lot less salty than usual!  I told him it was because I used all my THRIVE ingredients and made up the recipe myself :)!  I was kind of excited about that!  Truth is, THRIVE has helped me become more adventurous in the kitchen, and I love it!

So here's my chicken taco soup (which I threw in the crock pot at about noon, and it was ready at 1!)  The beauty of this is that you don't even have to use the crock pot!  I simply did, because both kids were down for a nap, so that meant I could get everything in the crock pot and heating and didn't have to worry about it when the kids were both awake!  But it can easily be thrown into a saucepan on the stove and brought to a boil, then reduced to simmer for 20 minutes and it'd be done!

CHICKEN TACO SOUP
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1/4 cup THRIVE Sliced Onion
3/4 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
2 tablespoons THRIVE Green Chilis
3/4 cup THRIVE Chopped Chicken
3 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Boullion
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1 10-ounce can Rotel
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
5 cups water

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low 4 to 5 hours.  Serve with your favorite toppings and tortilla chips! 

*Alternately, you can add all ingredients to a saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

This was awesome, and I will make it again!  It can even be a jar meal!

There are only a couple days left to get the THRIVE Sweet Corn at Q-Pon price!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com if you're interested in learning more!!

Happy THRIVEing!

Q-Pon Cooking: September 2015: Sweet Corn -- Easy Spanish Rice

I wanted to make some Chubby Cream Cheese Chicken Taquitos for my family's dinner the pay period, and pondered a recipe I could serve with those.  I generally try to stay within a similar "theme" for dinners, so if I make something that sounds sort of Mexican...  Well, I work on having something else Hispanic.  I'm maybe a bit crazy ;).

So I remembered a recipe on the #10 can of THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers for Easy Spanish Rice that sounded -- well -- easy!  And then it turned out that this recipe called for THRIVE Sweet Corn, the Q-Pon item for September!  So that was a bonus!

The recipe is super easy, and I was able to throw it all together while having 5 kids ages 8 and under in my house (one of them 2 1/2 months old and 2 of them 2 year olds!).  I call that a winner if I can be successful with a dish under those circumstances :).

I used the recipe to start, but added many more THRIVE ingredients than the original recipe called for, ergo I had to play with the water a little bit and didn't keep an accurate measurement.  But I'd say I added around 3 cups of water total.

EASY SPANISH RICE
1/4 cup THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers
2 tablespoons THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 teaspoon THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
3 cups water
1 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn (Q-Pon item this month -- contact me!)
1/2 cup Salsa
1 1/2 cup THRIVE Instant White Rice

Add all ingredients except rice to medium saucepan and cook 10 minutes, finally bringing to a boil.  Add rice and cover.  Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.  *Optional, add shredded cheddar cheese and stir.  (I didn't do this initially, but when I had leftovers, I added some cheese and thought it was wonderful with the cheese!)

This was super easy to throw together, as I said.  A great side dish!  The THRIVE Sweet Corn will be the Q-Pon item for all of September.  If you have a Q, simply add the corn to your next Q shipment!  If not, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com and I'll help you get the great price on this very popular -- and delicious -- THRIVE Life product!

Happy THRIVEing!

Jar Meal: Apple Pie Oatmeal

This Thursday I am doing a Make and Take Jar Meal class for my sweet friend Megan!  She's so awesome and she's so excited about THRIVE Life that she wants all her guests to have some THRIVE Life deliciousness to take home and enjoy -- hence the Apple Pie Oatmeal in a jar for every party guest :)! 

So this morning, my toddler and I tried it out!  And it is amazing!  My toddler asked for "more...more!"  And, considering she usually leaves her store-bought cereals to soak up milk and go soggy and go to waste, I was totally impressed that she at all of her oatmeal and wanted more! 

Being that I'm only 3 weeks away from my due date, I am definitely planning on making variations of this recipe to keep in my cabinet for easy to fix breakfasts after we have a new little bundle in our home (and I have less sleep in my body :)).  Definitely going to try doing it with bananas and cinnamon; strawberries and vanilla powder; peaches, etc.!  So versatile!

APPLE PIE OATMEAL
1 cup THRIVE Quick Oats
2 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk
1/4 cup brown sugar*
1/2 cup  THRIVE Granny Smith Apples, crushed/broken (about 5 to 6 apple slices)
2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice

For the jar:  Layer ingredients in a pint-size jar, beginning with oats.

To prepare in microwave:  Place contents of jar in microwave-safe bowl (a larger one) and add 1 2/3 cups water.  Microwave on high 2 to 2 1/2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.  Add more water slowly to reach desired consistency.  Add milk as necessary to thin/cool after oatmeal is cooked.

To prepare on stove top:  Add contents of jar to 1 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, adding water as necessary.  Add milk as necessary to thin/cool after oatmeal is cooked.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

This is 2 servings in the pint-size jar; but you can half the recipe (in a jelly jar) and have single-serve breakfasts!  Which would be totally awesome to take to work with you -- or send with your husband ;)!

I may have used too small of a bowl in the microwave...  And I may have had a little mess to clean up!  But it was so worth it!

I'm so excited about jar meals and how THRIVE Life can help me have easy and fast meals on hand like this oatmeal!  And I'm definitely glad for it as I prepare to make-ahead a bunch of meals (both breakfast and dinner!) to help us as we transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4!!!

Would you like to be able to make your own jar meals?  I can help you out!  Just contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or visit my website at www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla!

Happy THRIVEing!

*This is not my original recipe.  I got it from a jar meal cookbook available through my THRIVE Life team!

Cooking with the Q-Pon: Instant Pinto Beans: Taco Soup

Well, after a crazy week (plus) of not living in our own home...  We're back!  Which means I can get my THRIVE on a bit more again :)!

And, being that today was Wednesday, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to start cooking with October's Q-Pon item: THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans!!  I made a version of this soup by Chef Todd.  I used the recipe as my guide and changed it up a bit to suit what I had on hand!  Here's how I made it:

TACO SOUP
3/4 pound ground beef*
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1/2 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes* (I used ones I'd diced and frozen from our garden, but a can would work too)
4-ounce can diced green chilies*
8-ounce can tomato sauce*
2 tablespoons THRIVE Seasonings: Cilantro
2 beef bouillon cubes*
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
7 cups water

Optional toppings:
tortilla chips
sour cream (I used THRIVE Sour Cream Powder!)
shredded cheese*

Brown beef.  Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.  Add all remaining ingredients (not including toppings).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. 

Add desired toppings.  Enjoy!

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life!

I thought this was tasty!  A perfect dinner for a chilly, rainy Pacific Northwest evening!

Meatless Monday: Beef Enchilada Bake

In recent months, the price of beef has gone up significantly.  As a result, I started looking for more meatless meals to help me stretch our grocery budget!  

THRIVE Life has opened my world to so many possibilities with their great variety of TVP (textured vegetable protein) products!  I'm loving that we're able to have meals that would usually use beef, but don't -- and we don't feel like we're missing out!  Our beef supply is stretching further this way, and I'm not having to buy beef at the grocery store nearly as often! 

One of our recent meatless meals was a Beef Enchilada Bake.  I found the recipe on the back of the THRIVE Life Sweet Corn #10 can.  I made a couple of substitutions, since we currently have the THRIVE Taco TVP.  The recipe below is as I made it -- and I felt like it came out quite well!

BEEF ENCHILADA BAKE
1 cup THRIVE Taco TVP (I subbed this for THRIVE Beef TVP)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 of 6-ounce can tomato paste* (I subbed this for 1 can condensed tomato soup, because the THRIVE Taco TVP is seasoned more than the THRIVE Beef TVP and I wanted to decrease the sodium due to my original substitution)
1 cup salsa*
1 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn, rehydrated
6-8 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch squares
1/2 to 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese*

Combine THRIVE Taco TVP and water in a microwave safe dish; microwave on high for 6 to 10 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large skillet, combine the THRIVE Taco TVP, tomato paste, salsa, THRIVE Sweet Corn, and tortillas.  Heat through.  Transfer to a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and top with cheese. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Top with a dollop of sour cream* and sliced olives if desired.

*Denotes ingredients also available through THRIVE Life.

If you want to stretch your grocery budget a little further with the help of some of THRIVE Life's awesome TVP options, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!

You can also check out more info on the THRIVE Taco TVP by following this link!

THRIVE Taco TVP

First off, what the heck is TVP? 

TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Product.  Basically, this means it is made of soy product textured to appear like beef.  This particular THRIVE TVP item is seasoned with taco seasonings, making it a great and quick! addition to a variety of Mexican-inspired dishes!

I'm a visual person, so I took a picture of the product in the can to show you.

The product can be eaten right out of the can.  (I know, because I tried ;)).  I don't recommend it, though!  It's pretty high in sodium straight out of the can.  Once prepared, the water dilutes the sodium content.

THRIVE Taco TVP is vegetarian and it is also Certified Gluten-Free!  My family doesn't have concerns about either of those, but I have many wonderful friends who do have concerns about one of the other, so it's always nice to find something that will work for them!

So why did I decide to try THRIVE Taco TVP?  For a couple of reasons, actually.  One is the ever-increasing price of beef.  Sigh.  In our household (mostly due to me...) we mainly eat beef and chicken.  Sometimes some pork (which is actually increasing since I now have THRIVE Sausage Crumbles in my home store!), but mainly beef and chicken.  So as I noticed the price of beef going up, I was noticing our grocery budget taking a bit of a hit.  Plus, my husband and I have talked about efforts to decrease our meat intake.  Not to do away with it entirely; but to have more meatless meals.  We feel this can be beneficial to our family's overall health.  And, of course, having some meatless meals will also help lower the cost of our meals as well.  So I decided to try out our first TVP product through THRIVE.  I wasn't brave enough to just try the beef or chicken, though ;).  I felt like I would know how to use the THRIVE Taco TVP, though.  It would be a great way for me to introduce TVP to  my family!  This means our meals can be cheaper and we are consuming a little less meat for a healthier lifestyle!

Preparing the THRIVE Taco TVP is super simple.  You use 2 parts water to 1 part THRIVE Taco TVP.  For our family, I usually use 1 cup of the THRIVE Taco TVP and 2 cups of water.  I bring the water to boil in a skillet, add the TVP, allow it to simmer 2 minutes, and then remove from the heat.  I generally find that most or all of the water is absorbed into the product, but if it is too moist for you, simply drain it before adding it to your dish!

Last night we used our THRIVE Taco TVP for taco salad.  I personally really enjoyed it.  I didn't feel like I was missing out by not having ground beef in my taco salad.  My husband said he could tell it "wasn't the same" but that it wasn't bad.  He completely supports my substituting THRIVE Taco TVP sometimes, so I plan to use the THRIVE Taco TVP frequently for our taco salads in the future.  Taco Salad is one of our "go-to" menu items, so this will be handy!

And, it turns out the THRIVE Taco TVP comes with another bonus too!  Not only is it helping us cut costs by allowing us to purchase less beef and helping us eat more meatless than before...  It also takes less time and effort to prepare!  The preparation is quick and painless, and there is no splatter of grease from browning the meat.  There's also no need to remember to thaw the beef, if your beef is in the freezer :).  So definitely an additional perk for me!

I am really pleased with our purchase of THRIVE Taco TVP.  It has been a great addition to our home store on so many levels.  I have used it as well in a Beef Enchilada Bake, and I will post that recipe at a later date.  Basically, I see THRIVE Taco TVP being a part of our home store for a long time to help us have the proteins we need for our family for the long-term -- and the short-term!

Are you interested in trying THRIVE Taco TVP?  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com to place your order today!